Matt, the problem with the acceleration of decline in our market is that when you set a strike price, like you did, what happens when it gets there way ahead of schedule. You are only about 50-75k off in your desires and that could very well hit inside of six months, what then? Your mind sees all these indicators that it hasn’t hit bottom but at the same time you got your wish and the affordable price for the house you wanted arrived.
I’m with you on the not wanting to maintain 4000 sq ft., been there, done that and can’t say I enjoyed $500 electric bills. My plans are a bit fuzzy, my strike price that I set a year ago already arrived and I chose to renew my lease for another 6 months so I am renting through Feb. 08 and will have to decide again in Jan/Feb. I was looking at unattached 2000-2200 sq ft 3br 3ba but with as small a lot as possible and preferred association maintained front landscaping (I never want to own a mower again) and a community pool. Something in the condo lifestyle without the shared walls. I would also like a three or four car garage. Since there is nothing like that in existence I will be making some compromises but I’ve found some new ones that come close and they are already below what I set my strike price at. At each drop I keep thinking there are more drops in store but at some point in 2008 I’m sure I’ll just do it, my income to housing ratio will be close to 20% and that’s getting silly, plus my after tax price to buy is equal to my rent and the place I will buy will be 25% bigger, for these reasons I don’t think I’ll wait until 2009.
I am a procrastinator, I am currently playing chicken with flat panel t.v.’s. When they were 3,000 I said I would wait until they were half that. When they dropped to 1500 I told myself that I wanted one of the better brands. I went to costco the other day and there were off brands in the $500 range and $1000 gets you a nice one but still i say no, they will be better and cheaper in six months, yet i pay $100 in cable to watch on a $200 T.V. and I have lots of money, I make no sense even to myslef. If I could only extend my level of restraint to my love life, I’d be set. But alas, my achilles heel, each time telling myself that I should not involve myself with a particular woman knowing full well that her lack of intelligence or some other issue will in a month be driving me nuts and i will be on wikipedia looking up new diseases to pretend to have so she will go away. Yet as i type I have a window open to wikipedia and another on web md. I could always just go with the default of fibromyalga, but I think I need to mix it up a little because after reading The Secret i’m afraid I’ll end up with it if I keep using it.
